If New Hampshire has a favorite son, it’s John Stark. The State Motto is a truncated quote from Stark, “Live Free or Die” and of course the people of New Hampshire have a certain Stark independent streak that lives on to this day. As a transplant from Massachusetts who lives 7 miles from where Stark…
New Hampshire has a strong bond with Quebec, even if most people who live in the state aren’t always aware of it. There’s an independent streak in Quebec that strongly mirrors the independent streak in neighboring New Hampshire. There’s an obviously population blending as many French Canadians moved to the jobs the Industrial Revolution offered…
During the beginning stages of the French and Indian War, the British Army led by General Edward Braddock and officers that included Thomas Gage and George Washington marched to modern-day Pittsburgh to drive the French out of Fort Duquesne. During the march, Gage’s Advance Guard failed to secure the high ground. As they marched towards Fort…
I’m in the middle of establishing a new habit loop that is embarrassingly easy at the moment. I set my alarm for 5:45 AM in case my internal alarm clock doesn’t work. When I get up I immediately get dressed in workout clothes, go downstairs and turn on the coffee maker. I pour myself 16…
Lawrence, Massachusetts was the epicenter of two significant events in the history of industrial labor. The first was the Pemberton Mill collapse, which I wrote about yesterday. The second was the Bread and Roses Strike in 1912. The strike began when mill workers realized that the mill owners chose to pay them two hours less…
On a quiet hill overlooking the City of Lawrence, Massachusetts is a monument memorializing the 145 mill workers killed on January 10th, 1860 when the Pemberton Mill collapsed. Another 166 were injured. Many victims were women and children. As recent immigrants to America, the victims were buried at Bellevue Cemetery and this simple monument marks…
Yesterday it was 67 degrees in New Hampshire. Today it’s 35 degrees. I drove to Portland, Maine for meetings and was greeted by sleet and snow. It’s April in New England. This isn’t the only place that has extreme swings in the weather, but I don’t live and work in those places. When I booked…
It is true, I never assisted the sun materially in his rising, but, doubt not, it was of the last importance only to be present at it. – Henry David Thoreau, Walden “I have been anxious to improve the nick of time, and notch it on my stick too; to stand on the meeting of…
This morning I was rowing on my erg in the basement. As I usually do, I took off my gold wedding ring, did my rowing and then slipped the ring back on. I was struck first by how cold the ring was when I slipped it back on, but then how quickly heat conducted back…
Yesterday afternoon I was in Merrimack, New Hampshire between meetings and stopped at a coffee shop for a few minutes. I passed the Common Man Restaurant, which having dined there I’d remembered as one of the oldest houses in the area. I thought I’d like to go back to the Common Man to re-acquaint myself…